i ate a pb&j in my underpants last night at 2:46 am. whats the point.

the banbury cross i have to bear

i've been fiendish for doughnuts lately. i can't remember where this urge has sprung from. i could be dealing with some heavy latent shit, you guys. Occasionally when i was a kid, my mom, my aunt emily, my sisters and i would usually hit up some old tired ass doughnut shop in the midtown/east memphis area. the shop of choice was usually howard's doughnuts on summer avenue near perkins/goodlett (can't remember...it's been too long). one of my favorite smells ever is a very old doughnut shop. the scent of the pre-indoor smoking ban still lingers there (good luck finding that smell in salt lake city) as do the old timers, who still get the same 2 glazed doughnuts and cup of coffee like they've been getting since 1954. i'm always on the lookout for places that make doughnuts the way the old style places in memphis do. i found one in salt lake city (sans cigarette smell) and, thank the maker, it isn't all hip and excellent to be seen getting doughnuts there. I FUCKING LOVE BANBURY CROSS. when you walk in the door hold your breath for like a second so the smell of the outside world doesn't mingle with the smells going on inside. cassie, bryan and i went there on sunday to try their doughnuts. i was quite satisfied. you folks should know me well enough by now to know that i didn't go straight for the fancy sprinkle-y doughnuts, or the ever so alluring bavarian cream ones. and get thee hence bear claws! no, i needed to know how good their plain glazed doughnuts were. it's like a cheese pizza. if a pizzeria sucks at making a cheese pizza, forget it. same with d-nut shops. if the glazed doughnuts aren't absolutely stellar, don't bother. benchmarks, people! so yeah, the very simple and glazed d-nuts are what i got on sunday. they were pretty perfect. very light, very fluffy, not too yeasty, and not too sugary. you have to be gentle with them, otherwise they'll end up getting smushed (smooshed? nah, smushed)), and i for one do not like my d-nuts smushed. i went back today with my partner in crime jennie, with every intention of trying a new menu item. and guess what they had? fucking blueberry cake d-nuts. before today, my favorite blueberry cake doughnut could be found at select krispy kreme outlets. now, banbury cross is where i will shell out my "hard" earned money for these fluffy creatures. no joking, it's been a very very long time since i've found a blueberry cake doughnut this good in a mom and pop shop. today was momentous, dudes. we saw a pack of homeschool kids in sweatpants come in too.

"shit i been eating" or "shit, i been eating"

i eat a lot of crappy food. i am lazy, too lazy to walk to the grocery store. i can imagine a few of you are getting your reprimand face on. i also eat some pretty good food now and again.

here's a small list of places and the food i've quite enjoyed:

rich's burgers: bbQ burger (with coleslaw) and mac and cheese burger. rich's has decent peach cobbler too. i've tasted their green chili burger, also way good. the cook who usually works is kind of a goober, but delightfully efficient.

market street grill/seafood joint on 1300e 400s: these dudes have pretty sweet deal for a quart of clam chowder and a loaf of sourdough for like 8 bones.

b & d burgers is usually my go-to when i'm at work. typical meal there: cheeseburger and zucchini fries (with ranch to dip. fuck you fry sauce.). i will argue in behalf of their gyro as one of, if not theee, best in town. greek souvlaki #1 is probably a tie, but only becuase their rice is better. how can you eat a gyro without that rice yall?

the fucking maverick by my house has rico's burritos for $5.

village inn: southwestern potato pancake: carnitas, avocado, chili verde, and scrambled eggs: doubt me not.

duh, pie hole.

also, big daddy's has gone up a notch in my book when the dude working one night upsized our pizza for free and gave me and some amigos free drinks. i think they may have changed owners? they also have alot of extraneous non-pizza related food on their menu now.

while deli on 9th has a decent reuben, mine is still better. (whoa, this gives me an idea)

blue lemon cafe's braised beef sandwich is impossibly good. everyone give props to chaz when they eat one.

cakewalk vegan bakery is the shit. anything i've ever eaten there was perfect. madison, the new broken spells drummer works there a few days a week, go in and say hi. turns out cakewalk is pretty great for wasting a few hours. suggestion for kelly: MAKE NOODLE CABOODLE.

dragon grill is still mediocre in my mind. people keep telling me i "do it wrong", but i shouldn't have to go out of my way to make a resturant's food good. that's their job, not mine!

7-11 hot dogs are still killer. i tried their egg salad sandwich the other day. fyi, it needs pickle relish to set it off.

i think i'm gonna grab a rico's burrito on the way to bryan'n'cassie's. bryan and i are finishing el topo today. toodles.

EDIT:

HOW COULD I HAVE FORGOTTEN:

l&l barbecue on 4th south. i got loco moco. it is very hard to fuck this dish up. plus, they have brisk raspbery iced tea on tap.

score

sunday morning all you can eat breakfast buffet at the poplar pub $9.70.

stick it in my pie hole

so i think i found my favorite pizza joint in slc. pie hole. downtown salt lake. near a buncha bars and is open til 3am. $1 pbr cans. by the slice. as you all know (or fucking should) my benchmark for a pizzeria is the cheese and pepperoni. both of which rule at the pie hole. i scored a few fresh slices of both the other night and holy shit, it did it for me. while i'm sure people will argue with me that este is better, i really jive with this pizza. the crust has the right amount of chewy-ness. i don't find that in este's pizza. pie hole pizza is just a tad bit thinner than nicolitalia, and a tad bit thicker than este, which makes my little belly very happy. food aside, pie hole hasn't gotten quite as pretentious as este, which gives them a big leg up. i could eat pie hole pizza at pie hole in sweatpants and no one would look at me as if i had broken some rule i didn't know about. the staff are quite friendly and will chat with you. which i value quite a lot. they are vegan friendly for those who need it, and they use their own home-made nutritional yeast based "cheese", which is very tasty for those who've never tried it. for real, go to this pizzeria and have a blast.

http://pieholeutah.com/

more salt lake finds

guess who is going to be keeping super busy with finding new places to eat in salt lake? this guy. my buddy chaz is also a food dork, and he, along with his better half, melody, have done a lot of the leg work here in salt lake for me. the other night we hit up the HAPA taco place downtown across from sette bello. i got some carnitas tacos. killer. the tiniest amount of crisp on the carnitas were oh so awesome. they came with pinto beans and rice on the side. i love me some pinto beans. i also tried out their $5 margarita. it beat out the twilight's margarita by a long shot. HAPA will be where i go get margaritas. i had 2. people kept getting pissed that the kitchen was closed and as we were paying one guy stormed in and shouted the fuck word a lot at the staff. we all decided that was dumb so we gave our server a bigger tip. turns out he knew the guy.

yesterday we hit up koko's kitchen, a little japanese sushi bar downtown right off 6th south. i got some chicken katsu curry (brown curry) and it ruled. pparently the pot stickers are quite killer but the big deal according to meoldy is ramen. i will be eating ramen next time i go.

i can't believe how excited i am about all this. wait, yes i can.

lucking out

so i started working at graywhale's main store in salt lake city, which i'm beyond excited about. for a few reasons.

1. i'm working at the main store, which has a soooo much fun stuff to listen to. like if you're into jazz or world music, you'd be a fool to not peruse. sadly there ain't much wax in the racks. i've found some fun punk and a lot of the garage bullshit i like, some indie stuff too. makes alphbetizing very plesant, and fun. i know my abc's so much better now too.

2. i live very close to the store, so i can walk. it's up hill, so that means i'm gonna have a nice tight ass here in no time.

3. there's this little greek run burger joint RIGHT NEXT DOOR. their gyros rival greek souvlaki #1, mainly because the pitas are toasted and their tzatziki is loaded with dill. just throwing that out there. not to mention they roll out a pretty tasty burger. and the buns they use aren't the typical lawn turd white bread bun. they'r kinda chewy. good fries too. i'm hooked already. the place is called B&D. i have't tried their shakes because i don't care about shakes.

salt lake city: watch your ass

so, i'm in the process of moving to salt lake. bet you thought that'd never happen, but the time has come for me to leave provo behind. sorry provo, i know you're gonna miss me. i'm actually sad about a few things as i think about moving away. here's three of them. you already know what they are because i talk about these three places incessantly. i guess this is my final ode to them.

1. pete's lunch. by far pete's was my favorite place to eat in provo. i never felt more at home at a diner than when i was at MY table at pete's. i wish i could uproot that whole little microcosmic community built up around pete's and take it with me wherever i go. i'm confident i'll find similar diners in salt lake, and i'm sure the fare will be good, but i have a hard time believing that i'm going to find another waitress as good as julie, or chicken fried steak/hasbrowns/toast/2 eggs over medium as perfectly made as the way pete did it. call me nostalgic, but goddammit, for my money no one has ever made me breakfast as good. and guess what, his burgers are up there with the best of them. so is is meatloaf. so are his omeletes. there are a few people who might disagree with me, but they are few and far between. and i usually ignore them. i'm trying not to get too nostalgic over this, because i'm hoping some dumb hungry kid with a little extra cash wanders in pete's, who is kinda shy and makes his way over to the west wall, stops to check out the old prospector (stinky pete) painting and sits down at table 9 so he can get a commanding view of all the other tables and so he can watch a happy chinese guy do what he's been doing with perfection for eons, fall in love instantly with the waitress, and hell, the whole scene and never wants to go eat anywhere else. then he gets his food and it seals the deal.

2.el salvadoran. el salvadoran only comes in second because they don't have pete cooking. i fell in love with salvadoran food because a guatemalan classmate insisted she make me pupusas one night. she made them from scratch, which wasn't hard because she'd grown up making them. thanks karla! it was a while before i had the craving for a pupusa after that, but i was making my way down center street once and peeked in the window and saw what everyone was eating. so i went back a little while later and got myself some, i hate to say it but el salvadoran's were better than karla's pupusas. i kept going, and i became friendly with joe, the really big guy who looks really scary. he isn't. his name is joe. i'm going to miss el salvadoran because of joe, and the little grandmother who makes all the pupusas and tamales. and everyone else who works there and eats there. el salvadoran doesn't need me to keep their business going, they have a strong community of people who go there because they know they'll see other salvadorans.

3. nicolitalia pizzeria. no brainer. my heart is tied to this place in the weirdest ways. i love nick. i love nick's pizza. i love how he does everything wrong and yet, still manages to get everything right. the place is one of the conundrums of the universe. if and when nicolitalia pizzeria goes out of business, the soul of utah county will go out with it. you'll never meet a more honest businessman than nick dellacioppa. you'll never eat better hand tossed pizza, you'll never be more annoyed ordering it, you'll never laugh harder waiting for it, you'll never want the music to change more, and you'll never forget the time nick innocently mispronounced your name, got your order wrong or remembered who you were as you walked through the door.

fuck you provo, you broke my heart. i'll still come back for the food, though.

hello salt lake, just got here, still figuring everything out, but so far you haven't disappointed. i've been frequenting a littl indian market down the road from where bryan and cassie live. they sell a indian soda called limca. it is lime flavored. it is delicious and very refreshing. i've also discovered their pakoras and potato patties and spinach paneer triangles to be totally killer. big daddy's pizza is the best $5 pizza i've ever had. i'm fully expecting my adventures in food to be varied and fruitful. here's to whats coming, y'all!

spice grill, or don'tcha know...

a few weeks ago me, boobsie and bonesy walked over to spice grill, where the rooster place used to be, past all the other happenings downtown, i got a sampler plate and boobsie and bonesy got something else. it was great. most of what i got was fried, which (no brainer) i loved. what initially struck me as odd about spice grill was the overabundance of things on the menu that weren't indian food. burgers, fries, GYROS, and some other stuff. if you know me at all, you'll know the gryo is one of my all time favorite foods. there aren't many places in utah county to get a good gyro (imo the best in SLC is greek souvlaki #1). the tangy tzatziki is a great compliment to the savory lamb "stuff". much to my surprise spice grill has their own approach to tzatziki. they add sugar to the recipe. honest, i've never encountered a sweet tzatziki. also, i'm trying to type tzatziki as many times as possible in this post for a few reasons:

1. so i can remember how to spell it

2. muscle memory?

3. its tastes good

4. because if you're a fan of greek food in the slightest, i want you to go try a gyro from spice grill.

ok, back on track: like any new/small/unhyped resturant in provo spice grill is still working out all the kinks with their business, but you know me, nothing is more important than how good their food is. and theirs is good. really good. they aren't afraid to be inventive without sacrificing a traditional/homemade menu. kudos to them.

they're on facebook

please "like" them!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Spice-Grill/105253749559556?ref=ts

i wonder if i can talk them into making a pizza pakora...

surprises

the other day cassie was surprised that i made breakfast for bryan and myself.

"you're not the only one who cooks for bryan" - me

also, i made breakfast tacos that day.

updating things

i need to update my photo for this blog. any suggestions? i can't make decisions on my own anymore.

taking a big slump.

geez, what a drama queen i turned out to be. reminder: this is not a forum for whining. sorry for the whining. things are working themselves out. hope i didn't scare anyone too much. went to pete's this morning with cassie and newlin. got my old standby. it was super busy today and pete was lookin sharp. saw some familiar faces and got full. super excited for the toga party tonight, it's been a while. i think i'm coming out of a big slump. good for me. good for you. party time.

a culmination of sorts.

dunno why i'm posting this here. i guess its only people i like who read this and only them who probably care at all about whats going on with me. this post doesn't have so much to do with food as it does my shortcomings as an adult. it indirectly involves food i guess, since my financial state dictates my food choices. and here it is: i'm broke. like, really broke. i think i can look back over the last couple of years and see the downward spiral to the place i am now. i guess i kept thinking i could stave off financial responsibility until i got my degree. nope. doesn't happen that way. i've fucked myself financially and i have only myself to blame. i haven't finished college and i don't know if i ever will. i want to, but i don't know if i'll be able to afford it any time soon. i party waaay too much. my friends have all kinda slowed down, but for some reason i felt like it was a great idea to keep pushing myself. dumb. i think i knew this was coming for a while but was too scared to try to deal with it. i've kinda destroyed my body with partying and eating tons of bad food. don't know how to quite recover from it, because lets be honest, i'm good at making bad decisions. also, i'm the master of procrastinating important things that come back to haunt me. and haunt me they do. relentlessly. i ate too much shitty pizza today and i still feel sick. instead of dealing with my problems, my problems have dealt with me. now i have to abandon or sell things that are very important to me and i don't want to. thanks for reading. thanks for being my friend. thanks for the recommendations and taking recommendations. wish me luck

dear fried egg sandwich

you are simple and pure. and digesting.

jambalaya etc

made jambalaya for the first time in a while last night. most of you know about this from tweets and FB and whatnot. what you don't know is that i set the stove on fire during this undertaking. i spilled a little pat of butter on a red-hot element and realized as soon as it happened i realized it was futile to try to save the butter. nothing happened immediately. but a minute or two later i saw flames coming up from underneath the element. in this situation i could have:

1. freaked out

2. looked for a fire extinguisher i know doesn't exist.

3. tossed a towel over the flames

i did none of these. instead, i took a photo with my phone, sent it to a couple of people and then blew the flame out.

i did a few things differently (not completely on purpose) for this batch of jambalaya; mainly i used some rip-off andouille sausage that is supposed to be gourmet and shit. do not buy aidell's andouille if you want andouille. you're better off using polish sausage instead. (sautee the sausage in butter and cayenne. still isn't real andouille, but is better than the crap i bought.) i didn't have rosemary in this batch either. i forgot to look in my spice cab before i went to the store. i can tell the difference, but i don't think anyone else can. all in all this jambalaya turned out pretty good. cassie liked it and she's my benchmark. it was a happy evening at the compound.

i don't think cassie is going to let me be lazy about cooking much longer.

HEALTH

i've been trying to eat healthier the last week or so, and i'm failing at it. i feel like shit all the time and i know i know i know it's because i don't eat well or exercise or do anything right. this isn't a post where i proclaim to the world how dedicated i am to eating healthier and making better food and lifestyle decisions. being healthy requires a lot of work. i hate work. at the current rate i'll probably be eating healthier by 2016. and it would help if my friends wouldn't bring over cheddar jalepeno cheetos. wtf! have you had those? so good. i should probably buy a bag of apples next time i go to the store, but i will probably instead buy chips and salsa. or a frozed pizza. oh what to do.

if you wear fancy pants

you should totally try out nordstroms sandwiches and shit. their coffee is very mediocre, but them sandwiches more than make up for it.

rice king noodle house

go.

holy cow!

i discovered a very versatile condiment today: the chik-fil-a "chik-fil-a" sauce. i believe it is a honey mustard/bbq mix, heavy on the honey mustard side.

i put it up there with nick's house dressing. no joke.

ethical considerations: mountain west burrito

the other day a handful of us hit up mountain west burrito. myself, cass, wiems, gheybin, greg, other meg, and brit p all crowded around a table in a room adjacent to a convenience store (read: smokeshop & beer). for some reason the owner chose that location to open where other tiny resturants had either closed, fled, or bailed completely (lookin at you taco r.). the near steadfast rule in opening a resturant is to never open where another had just failed seems not to deter the owner (haven't quite gotten on first name basis, which everyone should at their fav food spots), who goes about happily greeting, serving and cleaning.

somehow i think he knows what he's done.

here's why:

first he's a good looking white dude, and very affable. the picky locals are drawn towards pretty white men. and he smiles at everyone. he oozes the good kind of confidence.

second, he seems quite business savvy. i've had a couple of conversations with him about previous endeavors and he's helped start and may still be involved with a few similar operations, didn't get that far in convo with him. he's opened places like these in other college towns and he seems to be banking on their model in provo. not such a bad idea.

third, he's smart enough to buy locally, and organic when available, another selling point to the picky locals, not because its more healthy, but because its a buzz they can all understand. either way, we all win, because: his food is killer. it definitely is not autentico mexicano. but it is so good. which brings me to my last point: the staff.

the food at this joint is good because his staff respect and appreciate that he respects them. i don't know if i've ever seen an owner treat his guys with such dignity. the first time me and cassie ever tried him out he was sitting out in the dining room with one of his guys playing dominoes. i'll never forget it. the owner took our order while the other guy made his last move before he got our food ready. to see latino worker treated as a person and not a commodity gives me just the tiniest bit of faith in people. it's really all i need to help keep this place going.

cornel west made this statement:

"A Leftist looks at the world through the lenses of those who are dominated, subjugated, devalued, demeaned and marginalized...."

when i first read it i felt its meaning throughout my body. whether you subscribe to leftism or not, we can find places run by businessmen who believe in helping the marginalized maintain dignity as people, and we should support them.